COVINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has announced a more specific timeline for the closure of the 4th Street Bridge, which spans the Licking River and connects Covington and Newport.
Previously, KYTC said the bridge would close in January; on Wednesday, the agency announced the closure will start the week of January 12.
KYTC said it will provide a more specific date and time before the closure actually happens.
The bridge will be completely closed to both vehicle traffic and pedestrians ahead of its planned demolition in the spring of 2026. Construction of the replacement bridge is expected to take around 2 1/2 years, with the new bridge opening to traffic in the summer of 2028.
The project is expected to be completed "as early as Fall 2028," KYTC said in June.
Originally, officials said they indented to build the new bridge in two phases that would allow for pedestrian and cyclist access during construction. However, now that won't be the case; KYTC says the decision to demolish the bridge was made with safety in mind.
"The complete closure of the bridge crossing will ensure pedestrians and bicyclists are not located near an active work zone," KYTC Chief District Engineer Bob Yeager said in a press release. "Additionally closing the bridge is expected to save approximately one year off the construction timeline. Expediting the reopening of this vital bridge crossing is a priority."
A shuttle service will be provided by TANK while the bridge is unavailable, KYTC said.
In 2023, KYTC revealed four different bridge designs in consideration for the 4th Street Bridge's replacement; the agency previously announced the approved design is a three-arch bridge that will span the Licking River.
The design of the new bridge features three steel arches that will reach 58 feet above the roadway; the bridge itself will span 446 feet cross the Licking River — nearly 200 feet longer than the span of the existing bridge, KYTC said.
The concept will carry two 12-foot wide shared-use paths separated from vehicle traffic for use by bicyclists and pedestrians.
KYTC says those shared-use paths will make the bridge an American with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant structure.
Below the bridge deck, concrete piers will support the structure while framing the river itself.
The bridge itself will expand to carry four lanes of vehicle traffic, but KYTC officials said the number of lanes continuing to 4th Street into Covington will stay at two lanes. The bridge's shared-use paths will also connect with a dedicated bike lane already created on 4th Street.
Modifications and improvements have been made to the design for the intersection of Garrard and 4th Street as well, KYTC said.
According to KYTC, a traffic study done on the bridge in 2016 led to the design's incorporation of more traffic lanes.
"That study found that while three lanes would suffice for the existing traffic at that time, any additional development in Newport or Covington would require four lanes to accommodate the additional traffic," reads an FAQ on KYTC's website. "Since that time, work has started to develop the previous IRS site in Covington and there has been significant development of the Ovation site in Newport."
The 4th Street Bridge, built in the 1930s, is considered by KYTC officials to be functionally obsolete. The KYTC has planned for the past nine years to redesign the bridge.
Last May, KYTC reduced the weight limit for the bridge to 12 tons from its already-reduced limit of 17 tons.
That additional restriction added school buses to the list of vehicles prohibited from crossing, along with fire trucks, loaded garbage trucks, loaded tractor trailers and TANK buses. Traffic was also reduced to one lane in each direction.
The construction of the new bridge will fully lift those weight restrictions, according to KYTC.
